reviews 590 College & Research Libraries November 2001 Litman, Jessica. Digital Copyright: Protect­ ing Intellectual Property on the Internet. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus, 2001. 208p. $25, alk. paper (ISBN 1-57392-889-5). LC 00-45917. With the passing of the Digital Millen­ nium Copyright Act and the increased interest in Internet copyright—and in Vir­ ginia and Maryland, with the passage of UCITA (Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act)—an increasing number of people, including many librarians, are trying to sift through the complexities of copyright law. Jessica Litman, a law pro­ fessor at Wayne State University, de­ scribes where we currently stand with digital copyright and how the law has been shaped over the past one hundred years. The first half of Digital Copyright in­ cludes rather detailed descriptions of how copyright law has been created, shaped, and reshaped over the last century. It opens with an explanation of the basic principles behind copyright law, followed by a more in-depth look at how copyright law has been negotiated and legislated in the United States (a process decidedly dif­ ferent from the usual congressional prac­ tice). Litman provides a lengthy review of copyright revision, highlighting the ne­ gotiations and bargains struck in the ap­ proval of each new copyright bill. Copy­ right law has been shaped through a se­ ries of conferences and negotiations with Index to advertisers Annual Reviews 554 Archival Products 515 ATLA 540 BIOSIS 496 EBSCO 495 Elsevier Science cover 3 Greenwood 564 Grolier Educational 527 H.W. Wilson 595 Library Technologies 499 Moliero Editor 516 OCLC Online cover 4 Pacific Data Conversion 502 Primary Source Microfilm cover 2 interested parties (publishers, artists, etc.). This has led to fractured coverage with those interests having the biggest collec­ tive voice getting the better bargaining position. The second half of the book is based on the historical groundwork laid in the first half and discusses how copyright law is supposed to work in the digital age, providing the details of the progressive legislation that has attempted to make older laws fit new technologies. This dis­ cussion begins with a recounting of the development of the Internet and the In­ formation Superhighway. As with earlier copyright legislation, discussion of digi­ tal copyright was done in committee with little input from the general public. In fact, these early committee discussions, setting the stage for the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, were con­ ducted using a theoretical framework that was not based on current Internet use and with the idea of stimulating growth among producers of material. This short­ sighted manner of development contin­ ues to plague our system of copyrights and has created a number of problems and road blocks for those attempting to break into new Internet markets. As with past copyright legislation, big-interest groups continue to exercise great influ­ ence over copyright discussions in Con­ gress. Litman is opposed to this legisla­ tive process that gives us laws that have great impact on consumers, but on which they have had little or no input. Litman delivers a wealth of informa­ tion, both historical and legal, yet the en­ tire stream of information is conveyed in language that is easy to follow. One of the most difficult tasks of any book whose purpose is to inform readers about copy­ right law is to boil down the confusing language of copyright statutes into under­ standable terms. Digital Copyright is de­ signed like a textbook for copyright law, and librarians will benefit from the infor­ mation found here. As Litman points out, librarians have lobbied against enactment of various revisions to the current copy­ right law and our successes have been less Book Reviews 591 than impressive. Certainly, one of the keys to the profession’s gaining greater influence is education, and books such as Digital Copyright will be instrumental in that education as they attempt to trans­ late the confusing language of copyright law into understandable terms.—Timothy Hensley, Randolph-Macon College. Matthews, Jack. Reading Matter: A Rabid Bibliophile’s Adventures among Old and Rare Books. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Pr., 2000. 208p. $29.95, alk. pa­ per (ISBN 1584560274). LC 00-031361. If you missed reading a selection of Jack Matthews’s essays in prior appearances in the Washington Times, Antioch Review, or Soundings, you will be glad to have another opportunity in Reading Matter. This delightful collection of twelve essays is both educational and entertaining, and includes topics as disparate as the comma and booksellers’ catalogs. The essays are unified by the theme of book collecting, described by Matthews as bibliophilia. Elements of this underlying theme creep into each essay in the form of an anec­ dote. Matthews, distinguished professor of English language and literature at Ohio University, uses the anecdote as preamble, a device through which he launches into the central theme of the essays them­ selves. The first essay, “Anecdotal Evi­ dence,” contrasts trivia with triviality and anecdotes, placing anecdotes in context in literature and history and thus prepar­ ing the reader for what is to come—espe­ cially in an artistic (if not thematic) sense. Several essays address the book as ob­ ject. In “The Binding of Books and the Matter of Spirit,” Matthews offers a chatty, yet theoretical, discussion of bind­ ings. Far from taking a traditional ap­ proach, the author bounces between top­ ics, ranging from book coverings to their contents, in a manner that might be de­ scribed as a “stream of consciousness.” He speaks of establishing a “sensible bal­ ance between inner and outer validities.” Matthews paints an interesting history of dust jackets in “Dust Jackets and the Art of Memory.” Through examples, he dem- Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation College & Research Libraries, ISSN 0010-0870, is published bimonthly by the Association of College and Research Libraries, American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795. The editor is Donald Riggs, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314-7796. Annual subscription price, $60.00. Printed in U.S.A. with second-class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois. 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